Leonard Bernstein’s liberal political sympathies are well known. But these are never as clearly present in his music as in 1971’s “Mass.”
In using the structure of the Catholic Mass, Bernstein echoed the Christian embrace of previous Jewish composers such as Schoenberg and Mahler. Mahler embraced Christianity, at least in part, to find work in the increasingly anti-Semitic climate of Europe at the end of the nineteenth century. As Schoenberg witnessed the rise of the Nazi party and the horrors of its genocide, his flirtation with Christianity became more of an existential crisis. Bernstein’s embrace of Christianity appears to have been a combination of tribute and disappointment. He was well aware of the liturgical splendor of traditional texts by Bach, Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, among others, and personally composed the music for the unaccompanied Mass using music he originally composed for Souanzo’s play Lark.
He was also well aware of the suffering and death that occurred during the anti-Vietnam War protests, the struggles of American citizens for equality during the Civil Rights Movement, the struggles of the war itself, and the failure of religious institutions to stem the tide of violence.
Bernstein explored religious themes in his first symphony in 1942, whose final movement used texts from the biblical Lamentations. His Chichester Psalms, published in 1965, contained three psalms in Hebrew. His Symphony No. 3, Kaddish (1963), can be seen as the precursor to the 1974 Mass. His final symphony later became the Requiem for John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in Dallas just weeks before its premiere. The composer dedicated the work to the late president. He also performed Mahler’s “Resurrection” symphony the day after John F. Kennedy was assassinated, viewing it as a peaceful response to the murder.
Bernstein was no stranger to politics and progressive ideas, and his activism was central to his life and legacy.
The traditional Mass is a sacrificial ritual, and the composer used it to talk about the sacrifice of life and culture that occurred during the Vietnam War. It laments the ineffectiveness of religion in dealing with socio-political crises. The full title of the score on hand is “Mass, a piece for singers, players and dancers.” The play was the first work commissioned by Jacqueline Kennedy to open the new Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. It premiered on September 8, 1971 at the new Kennedy Center.
Richard Nixon refused to attend, ostensibly to avoid attracting the attention of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, but subsequent research revealed that FBI Director Edgar Hoover had warned him that the article might contain ” Subversive” text. He was obviously referring to the Latin text of the Mass. So, for “security” reasons, Nickerson stayed home that night.
The work continues to be revived and documented.
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